The Past, Present, Future and Fantasy Of Artificial Intelligence

We might be tempted to think that artificial intelligence is a 21st-century invention, but to be exact, the technology claims its origin from mythical stories. Although not clearly defined then, humans always thought of creating mechanical beings that would do superhuman tasks, with the idea being prominent with Greek’s Pygmalion and Hephaestus myths.

From Mythical Stories to Reality

In the 1940s, the discovery of a programmable digital computer brought great light to the mythical AI, and the technology got into books. Come 1956, scientists from Dartmouth College embraced artificial intelligence as their major tool for conducting scientific research.

Hopes were high with the tech, which resulted in millions of dollars being driven to research. However, within like 20 years since the hype, an AI winter struck. Supporters withdrew from funding AI projects when the scientists announced that there were hurdles in terms of hardware, software and knowledge capabilities of their time.

Despite the fact that Japan tried to pump some billions of dollars to revamp the research projects that they think would surface, in the 1980s, the winter struck again after more technical-related limitations surfaced.

The breakthrough we see today did not come until the 21st century when almost everything seemed to favor the AI boom we are currently experiencing.

AI Today

Source: cdn

With the availability of powerful computer hardware and software, machine learning has rocketed beyond the earlier thought boundaries. Ideally, the driving force or fuel behind artificial intelligence technology is the fact that it mimics how the human brain works, rearranging and changing itself in response to the patterns in the data it absorbed.

Interestingly, even the designers of these AI systems (or neural networks) can’t explain how the model works after it has been trained, that’s what’s making scientists want to dig deeper into the technology.

Current Applications Of Artificial intelligence

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The most complicated deployment of AI in society today relates to the recent past presidential election. Researchers have reported that the tech played the central role in the spread of fake news on social media platforms.

It’s said that AI-powered bots owned almost 100 million social media accounts which “they” used to share information against one candidate in favor of another. However, Berkeley students invented new AI platforms that could combat the menace -Botcheck.me and NewsBotAI, which helps users to confirm the humanity proof of news links.

Coming to the safe applications of the technology, millions of consumers all over the world are enjoying Alexa, Siri, Pandora’s “musical DNA,” and other AI-powered systems, which they interact with on a day-to-day basis.

Although debatable, perhaps the coolest and latest innovation touching AI is Bina48. Researchers claim it’s the first ever robot to complete a college class. Ideally, she was founded from computerized records of human thoughts, memories, and opinions.

Coming to workplace applications, Zume Piza a pizza-making shop in Silicon Valley has since 2014 deployed intelligent robots that work hand in hand with humans. Fuji Xerox R&D, an office equipment making company in Japan is introducing a social robot, which they say will revolutionize the workplace… and more other real AI-powered projects.

The Practical Future of AI

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The un-debatable fact is that countries are fighting tooth and nail just to clinch on the position of being the leader in AI. The Russian President is on record saying that whoever leads in AI technology will rule the world. China recently set a budget of 2.8 billion to build the world’s largest AI Park and the US was not happy with that, bearing the fact that it’s currently the leader in machine learning.

According to researchers, there is a solid and practical evidence that the future of AI is bright, not to mention that startups specializing in this field are receiving billions in funding, both from the governments and firms of like interest.

They say hackers would be able to hijack autonomous airbuses and driverless cars from remote locations. Robo-bankers might also attain self-realization and become selfish with public money.

However, the most mind-blowing fantasy surrounding the tech is derived from the movies, “The Terminator” which has parts 1-5, and “The Matrix Series,” where AI technologies evolved to the point of planning to overthrow humans by killing them.

In advice, it would be good that those involved with developing these agents ensure that they train them to respect and fear humanity, or else, the machines will rule us!

Saito is a born writer with a passion for crafting "how-to" articles, and sharing tech and innovation news hitting our universe. He’s been doing it for over 5 years now. Besides working as a freelancer –handling several clients, he’s a loving husband to a gorgeous wife.